Containers for nail polish have long been known that include a bottle containing the nail polish and stopper, to which the brush is affixed by a rod, with the brush dipping into the bottle and consequently into the nail polish when the container is closed.
The bottles used most often have a pot-bellied shape, with a flat bottom so that they can stand on it. However, these bottles have two disadvantages. First, it is difficult to hold them in the hand while one varnishes the nails, and they are difficult to carry, for instance in a handbag, because they fit poorly and occupy a relatively large amount of space.
To make the bottle easier to carry and handle, it has been proposed that it have an elongated shape, similar to that of a fountain pen. In that case, however, there is one problem: to enable using the nail polish until it is completely exhausted, the brush must be relatively long. With an elongated and narrow bottle, it is difficult to tilt the bottle in order to make the brush dip into the nail polish when there is little nail polish left, so that the brush must accordingly be nearly as long as the bottle. However, it is practically impossible to assure correct polishing of the nails with a brush that has a long rod; the long lever arm presented by the length of the rod translates any changes in direction of the hand at the stopper into unacceptably wide swings at the brush end, making it very difficult to guide the brush accurately.